The exhibition takes the visitor on a journey of discovery of the universes created by François Schuiten: firstly with his brother Luc, in the three albums in the series Les Terres Creuses. It was Luc who introduced his brother to strip cartoons. Next, Métamorphoses, which features two stories that François Schuiten created with Claude Renard, a teacher at St Luc who taught him the basis of the art of drawing. And lastly, Les Cités Obscures, his most famous work that he created with his great friend Benoît Peeters.

Visitors to the exhibition also have the opportunity of seeing something of the process of creating a strip cartoon, starting from the original artwork, a procedure that was closely monitored by François Schuiten in an effort to guarantee a printing quality that was as close as possible to his original drawings. In making his donation to the King Baudouin Foundation, François Schuiten not only prevented dispersion of the original drawings for his albums; he also ensured that the quality of any future re-printing would be in-line with technical advances in printing.

To mark the occasion of François Schuiten’s donation, the Heritage Fund has published a book in which Benoît Peeters evokes the "Cités obscures" and Thierry Bellefroid talks about François Schuiten’s work as a young man. Tristan Garcia casts a more philosophical look at his work.The publication is available at the Bibliotheca Wittockiana and at the Brüsel bookshop. It can also be ordered online at www.kbs-frb.be/publication

Alongside the exhibition, the Bibliotheca Wittockiana is organizing a series of events including a lecture by Thierry Bellefroid, author of the book François Schuiten, L’Horloger du Rêve, and a book-signing session by François Schuiten. For further information : 02/ 770 53 33

Practical information:

Bibliotheca Wittockiana
Rue du Bemel 23
1150 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
From 16 January to 19 April 2014
Tuesdays to Sundays, 10h to 17h
Closed on Mondays
Entrance free